The Sadistic Choice
"Spider-Man. This is why only fools are heroes - because you never know when some lunatic will come along with a sadistic choice. Let die the woman you love... or suffer the little children? Make your choice, Spider-Man, and see how a hero is rewarded!" :~ The Green Goblin "The Sadistic Choice" is an extremely common theme in media concerning villains, especially those involving "good versus evil" scenarios such as superhero fiction or adventure - though it can be found in almost any media that has at least one active villain. The concept is simple yet often strikingly effective, it is when a villain gives a protagonist (or hero) an extremely cruel choice - such as preventing the suffering of one individual at the cost of another or the chance to defeat them, only to reveal that should they do so they'd cause more damage. It is an extremely effective tool when used right and often the villain taunts the protagonist as the "Sadistic Choice" forces them to rethink their morality and can pose a great challenge, especially to characters with strong ethical codes (such as superheroes). Examples *The Green Goblin gives Spider-Man a "Sadistic Choice" by holding Mary Jane, Yesenia Miller in one arm and a bunch of school-children in the other: dropping both in order to try and force Spider-Man into saving one and allowing the other to die, ultimately Spider-Man saves both. *Jigsaw (Saw) - the entire Saw series revolves around the "Sadistic Choice", where Jigsaw (and later copycat killers) forced victims to make terrifying choices as part of a cruel torture-murder "game". *Riddler gives Batman a "Sadistic Choice" in the movie Batman Forever when he, along with Two-Face, had Chase Meridian and Robin captured and suspended on top of a long drop to the spiked rocks in the water. Riddler gives Batman a choice to save either Bruce Wayne's love or Batman's partner. As usual in superhero fiction, Batman saves them both. *Joker revolved around giving "Sadistic Choices" to Batman and the citizens in Gotham City in the movie The Dark Knight. From getting Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes captured, giving a choice to save only one, to have the citizens kill the mayor or he'll blow up a hospital, to rigging two ships with bombs. One ship with escaping citizens and the other filled with prisoners. Detonators for the opposite ship were placed inside the ships and the Joker offered a choice to blow up the opposite ship or he'll blow both of them up at midnight. Ultimately, the people on both ships have refused, and Joker tried to blow both of them up, but Batman stopped him. *Carface kidnapped Anne-Marie as hostage to kill Charlie Barkin until Charlie save her from drowning. *Scourge the Hedgehog kidnapped Amy Rose to make Sonic come and make him to make a choice: save the girl he loves or he'll fight him while she died, but Sonic beat him and save Amy. *Vemon kidnapped Mary Jane, Yesenia, The Powerpuff Girls and The Roweyruff Boys to make Spider-Man come to save them until Spidey and Harry Osborn as The New Goblin save them. *Freddy Krueger kidnapped Maria the Hedgehog as hostage, so the heroes won't hurt him in Sonic X: The movie. Then, he made Shadow the Hedgehog to make a choice: save the girl he loves or he'll kill her while he's helping his friends until Shadow save her. Category:About Villains